


Daemon feathers

by litra



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Daemons, Gen, Podfic Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 19:52:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4758890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a supernatural world where everyone has a daemon. Dean crawls out of Hell and his is lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daemon feathers

The first thing Dean did when he crawled his way out of the earth was flop down on his back and search the sky. Meirin was strong. They’d always been able to push the bond beyond anyone else they knew but on that day, he couldn’t find her shape etched against the blue sky.

The second thing he did after crawling out of his own grave was bring his arm up over his eyes to hide the silent tears.

 

Meirin hadn’t been with him in hell. Dean had never been able to decide if he was grateful for that. If she’d been there he wouldn’t have been so alone. Together he might have held out longer. On the other hand, they’d have hurt her too, he had no doubt about that, and that was something that he would have done anything to prevent.

He didn’t know how he’d come back, or why, but if she wasn’t there, then it meant he was well and truly broken.

 

Dean had been sixteen when his daemon had finally settled. His dad had been grumbling about it for weeks before it happened. Something about Dean’s rebellious phase manifesting through her.

Not that that made much sense. Meirin had always been the quiet one of the two of them. When Dean pushed boundaries and mouthed off to his teachers, she’d perch or sit by his side and be the very picture of attention. She cared for people, for their family, more than Dean ever let himself.

She had always liked taking the form of birds. Sammy sometime mocked that she’d end up as a mother hen. Instead she’d settled as a falcon, a red kite. She was a strong and clever flyer. Her russet tail and chest a beautiful contrast to the white and black of her wings.

Dean and Meirin made quite a pair whether on a hunt or hustling pool. They never failed to catch the eye and always demanded respect.

Sam had seemed surprised, as had his dad. Dean had never understood why. It was the perfect shape for her, the perfect shape for them.

 

Sam’s daemon had settled two years latter. No one had been surprised when Tuela had taken the form of a big brown dog with a shaggy ruf and soulful black eyes. That was Sam in a nutshell: floppy and playful one moment, but cross him and suddenly you realize just how much power was in those broad shoulders, just how sharp those teeth actually were.

  
  


Of course that was before.

 

When Sam had died, Tuela had leaned her head back and howled, before vanishing like a heat haze. That was what had finally made it sink in for Dean, and Meirin had let out a piercing shriek. Bobby’s daemon, Elemay, had tried to comfort her but she’d taken to the sky, and as a coyote Elemay couldn’t follow. Dean himself was too distraught to call her down.

Dean had sat by Sam’s side for three days and neither him, nor his daemon had said a word. She hadn’t protested when Dean had driven off to sell his soul. She had just kept watch.

The last time Dean had seen her had been when the hellhounds had been bearing down, tearing apart his flesh and pulling him down to Hell.

 

The sound ripped through Dean. Bells, he thought, only bells cranked up to elevendy-million. He clamped his hands over his ears and screamed until the cacophony stopped and he could finally hear himself. He pulled himself to his feet, panting.

He had no real reason to believe that whatever had brought him back hadn’t left him just as broken as Hell. If that was the case, he wouldn’t fight it when Sam or Bobby hunted him down, but that didn’t mean he was going to waste his get out of jail free card.

He’d find Sam, and Meirin and whatever had pulled his ass topside, because he didn’t know how to do anything else.

 

There was a bag in the store Dean found. The kind some people used to carry their daemon if they had settled in an inconvenient shape. Dean snagged it along with his other supplies and packed it with rags until it looked like there was something in there. That got him as far as Bobby’s place.

He didn’t even try to go inside. Bobby held a shotgun to his face, salt, silver, holy water, cold iron, nothing convinced him. Elemay kept scanning the sky as in waiting for Meirin to swoop down and land on Dean’s shoulder. It was clear that Bobby wanted to do the same, but wouldn’t let himself. Monsters didn’t have daemons.

Dean let the story spill out of him, at least as much of it as he could work out. Still didn’t know what had brought him back or how. When Dean had sold his soul for Sam, Tuela had been waiting by the bed when Sam woke up, so it wasn’t that someone had made a deal.

Bobby eventually relented. He knew a psychic who might be able to shed some light on what had been done to Dean, but he didn’t want to travel with Dean without backup. The idea of seeing Sam again almost made Dean forget about his situation.

Sam looked good, better than Dean had expected if he was being honest. It didn’t hurt that there was a hot girl in his bed. Then Dean saw Tuela.

It wasn’t unheard of for big life changing events to mark a daemon. Their father’s daemon, a badger named Fliska, had had burns over it’s shoulder and back ever since their mom had died, So Dean knew what he was looking at even if it wasn’t exactly common. Tuela’s normally rich brown fir was threaded through with black. Someone who didn’t know Sam might have assumed it was normal, but Dean knew the truth. The moment Sam was satisfied Dean wasn’t a monster, or at least not any kind of monster they had faced before, He pulled his brother into a hug.

“I’m sorry.” Dean wanted to say he wouldn’t ever leave Sam again, wanted to wipe that shaddow away, but he knew it wasn’t that easy. Besides, he didn’t want to lie in case they did have to kill him.

Pamela said he was severed, whatever that meant. Other than that though, he was alive and human. Dean wanted to believe it, but he knew he wouldn’t feel right until Meirin was back and perching on his shoulder.

When they tried to look for whatever had pulled Dean out of hell Pamela’s daemon a red lemur cried out, screaming the name Castiel. Dean was no stranger to rituals, but that sent shivers up his back. Daemons weren’t supposed to talk to other people; their person yes, and occasionally other daemons, but that scream was something else. It didn’t help that Pamela’s eyes had been burnt out.

Bobby thought summoning Castiel was a bad idea. Dean didn’t give him a vote. They covered the warehouse they had found in every symbol they could think of. They did the ritual and at first Dean thought it hadn’t worked. Then the storm had started rising.

The figure in the tan trench coat ignored the hail of bullets Dean and Bobby sent at it. It ignored the demon killing knife. It put Bobby on the ground with just a touch.

Dean knew he was about to get sent back to Hell. Whatever this thing was, Dean had managed to piss it off without any way of defending himself. Then he caught sight of the red feathers tucked up under the back of the man’s collar. Did this monster have a daemon?

When Castiel saw Dean hesitate he reached up and coaxed the bird out. It was bigger than Dean had estimated, It must have been tucked up as tight and small as it could. Except why not let a bird daemon fly on it’s own, they were nearly impossible to hit, and Dean well knew. Then Dean froze, breath catching in his throat.

It was Meirin. He could feel her. She was perched on Castiel’s arm wings slightly spread as if she wanted to fly to him. She looked back up to Castiel as if for permission. He nodded, and launched her.

Dean caught his daemon and pulled her close, smoothing her feathers as her talons tore into his shirt.

“I’m sorry, It took me longer then expected to find her.” Castiel said it as if it was nothing.

Dean looked up. His vision was blurry, but for once he wasn’t going to worry about crying. “How, what are you?”

“I’m an angel of the lord.”

Dean shook his head, not because he didn’t believe it but because he did and he wasn’t sure he could deal with that.

Castiel’s head tipped to one side. The storm picked up again outside. Lightning flashed and the shadow of wings spread out behind Castiel. Dean couldn’t help but think that they looked like Meirin’s wings.

Castiel stepped forward and laid a hand on Meirin’s back between her wings. Dean lost his breath again. The touch went through her, and straight to his heart.

“You’ll need her strength beside you. Heaven has work for you Dean.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> For now this is complete, I have a few ideas about Sam and Cas that didn't really fit so I might change my mind later, but only if i magic up some free time.


End file.
